Remind Me I'm Alive
by ourbodiesbreak
Summary: Ariadne is thrown back into the world of dreaming, but not in the way she expected.
1. Chapter 1

**No matter how hard I try, this fandom won't leave me alone. Please review and let me know if I should continue. If enough people are interested, then I will keep writing and posting the next chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Inception. **

* * *

She watched the bishop topple. She watched it topple over and over. Each time she held her breath in anticipation and every time she was disappointed as it clunked soundly on the desk. This was reality and nothing she could do would change that.

The agitated architect glanced at the textbook in front of her, but all the words blurred together. The red digits on the clock were hauntingly set at 3:30 am and with a sigh she started to the kitchen to brew another pot of coffee. As she waited for the coffee she stared at herself in the kitchen window, barely recognizing herself. The eyes that stared back at her in the kitchen window were brown and empty. She wondered if anyone else could see how hollow she was.

The bleak morning sky was just beginning to be painted with streaks of light. To most it would be beautiful, but to her It was all wrong. There were far too many clouds and the skyscrapers that framed the skyline were much too tall. She cursed all of them under her breath for introducing her to the world of pure creation and then just ripping it from her with no regard to the consequences.

Ariadne grasped the cup of coffee in her hands tightly, as something caught her eye outside the window. Through the darkness she could make out the shilloute of man standing in the bushes, staring straight at her. Ariadne's heart began to race and she pressed her eyes shut, grasping for her totem with one of her hands. She fumbled with the cool metal in her hand, but was unable to pull it out of her pocket. She was frozen in place. Ariadne forced herself to open her eyes, peering into the blackness. Her eyes frantically searched for the shilloute, but were only greeted by the flickering shadows. Her breathing returned to normal as Ariadne pulled the bishop out of her pocket, once again tipping it over. She was going crazy.

Ariadne could not shake the feeling that she was being watched. Every night she would double check the locks on her door and on the way to class she constantly looked over her shoulder. She even considered buying a gun. Her bishop began to wear from constant use. Ariadne wasn't certain of much anymore, but she was sure that reality wasn't supposed to feel like this. You weren't supposed to want to wake up from reality.

The sun was shining bright and the trees swayed with the promise of spring. Flowers were beggining to sprout out from the moist ground and the Paris streets were filled with lovers. Ariadne, however, did not notice any of these changes. All she could focus on were the eyes she knew were glued on her back. She quickened her pace, heaving her book bag higher up her shoulder.

Her footsteps echoed against the cobble streets as she looked around frantically, her mind racing with what to do. She swore the footsteps behind her were getting closer. Panicking, Ariadne dove into flower botique, hiding behind a display near the enterence. She slowed her breathing, peering out the window in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her pursuer. A few seconds later, a tall man strolled by. His eyes scanned the street purpusfully. It couldn't be. There was no way Arthur was the man watching her. But, as she looked again she was greeted with the unmistakable sight of the point man. His hair was slicked back as always and his attire was immaculate.

Before Ariadne knew what she was doing, she was marching towards him, intent on giving him a piece of her mind.

"Arthur" He looked back at the sound of his name and for an instant she saw panic flash across his face. He composed himself quickly and flashed her a dimpled smile.

"Ariadne, what a surprise meeting you here, how have you been?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Pardon me." He looked at her innocently and she scoffed at him.

"Don't play stupid with me. What the hell are you doing stalking me?"

"Ariadne I wasn't..."

"Bull."

"It's complicated." He said grabbing her elbow gently "Let me buy you a drink and I'll explain."

She pulled her arm from his grasp and crossed them across her chest. He had some nerve.

"No. I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me what is going."

Arthur's eyes shifted nervously before landing on her face.

"Ariadne please, trust me."

She wanted to put up a fight. She wanted to protest and hold out until she got her answers. However, something in his voice and expression caused her to reconsider.

"Fine."

"Then follow me. Quickly now."

He grabbed her elbow again and she allowed herself to be dragged along with him. They arrived at sleek black car and Arthur opened the door for her. She slid into the leather interior, and felt her anger dissapating. Arthur was here. He had come back. He started up the car and pulled out.

"Okay start talking" she demanded, not ready to let him off the hook to easily.

Arthur, however, did not say a word. She watched as a small crease formed on his forehead, the only indication that anything was amiss. Arthur pressed harder on the gas pedal and took a corner sharply, lurching Ariadne forward.

"What's going on?"

Arthur took another quick turn and Ariadne was slammed against the door. His eyes were glued to the road, occasionally flicking to rearview mirror.

"Arthur?"

The point man weaved in and out of the traffic and Ariadne slouched in her seat, looking nervously out of the window. What the hell was going on?

After a few minutes of quick turns and accelerations, Arthur's foot let off the gas pedal. The speedometer decreased and Ariadne released her tight grip on the door. He pulled into a vacant parking space and turned off the ignition. The point man ran a hand over his slick hair and sighed.

"I suppose you want to know what that was all about."

"Yes"

"About a week ago I was working a job. It was supposed to be a simple extraction. Everything was going off without a hitch until we aqquired the actual information."

Ariadne tried to ignore the jealous pangs at the mention of the job. Over the months after Inception she liked to believe they were all lying low. She liked to think that they were all taking a break from the world of dreams. It hurt that they hadn't asked her to work with them, that they hadn't needed her.

"Ariadne, are you listening to me?" She nodded her head.

"The information had to do with you." Ariadne tried to process his words. It didn't make sense.

"With me?" Arthur merely nodded. She tried to keep her voice from shaking, but knew Arthur could hear the tremble. "What about me?"

"The man we extracted the information from was a hitman. Our employer wanted to know the target."

The panic which had been buried under the surface for the past few weeks began to rise.

"You're the target Ariadne."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and put this fic on their story alert! I'm so glad that people are interested in where this story is going. Let me tell you it's going to be one interesting ride. : ) The constructive advice that some of you left was much welcomed and I hope that everyone likes the second chapter. The next one should be up sometime this weekend.**

**Question: Would anyone like to beta this story?**

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Ariadne tried to make sense of Arthur's words. Visions of towering hit men that resembled Jason Bourne bombarded her mind, causing her to unconsciously sink lower into the seat. Arthur looked at her concerned.

"Are you okay?"he questioned.

She stared blankly at him, her face pale and expressionless. Arthur shifted uncomfortably as Ariadne pulled out her totem. It just was not plausible that she was being hunted by a hit man. Something like that was only found in dreams. However, the bishop thudded soundly onto the dash.

"But I'm just an architect." she finally choked out.

Arthur looked relieved that she finally said something and cleared his throat.

"We don't quite understand it. Why they're after you and not us. The hit man had instructions to capture you first and later to..."

"Kill me." The words felt like sandpaper grating against her tongue. She choked them out painfully, her heart rate increasing as the realization of the words sunk in.

She watched as his eyes averted from her face to the landscape outside the window.

"So inception failed?" That was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with. It was the only illegal thing she had ever done, well if she didn't count some underage drinking when she was in high school.

Arthur shook his head. "Not that we know of. As of now we have no idea why someone is targeting you, but we are doing everything we can to find out why they are after you."

Despite his reassuring statement, Ariadne did not feel any better. In fact she felt worse. The shock began to wear off and in its place anger began to rise.

"Dammit Arthur. Why wasn't I warned about this? I never signed on to live like this. There were no disclaimers saying I was risking my life or that there was a possibility of being hunted by ruthless killers."

She took a deep breath to continue her rant, but before she could say another word Arthur slammed his fist onto the steering wheel.

"Because i didn't do my fucking job." He spat out. His rare outburst of emotion made her jump, and she stared blindly at him as he continued.

"I missed the fact that Fischer was trained and was completely oblivious to Dom and Yusuf conspiring behind my back. You weren't even supposed to go in and no one should have ended up in limbo."

Silence permeated the car as they both stared off into the distance. She felt horrible for her words, Arthur in no way deserved them. She was about to apologize, but he beat her to it.

"I'm sorry." The guilt in his eyes was apparent as was the sincerity in his voice. She didn't know if he was apologizing for his sudden exclamation or for the mess that was the Fischer job. "I...we are going to do everything we can to get to the bottom of this and keep you safe."

"Thank you." The words seemed inadequate to express everything she was feeling inside. She wanted to lean over and hug him, but knew that would be crossing one of the invisible barriers Arthur surrounded himself with. Instead she smiled warmly at him, and placed one of her hands on his bicep. He stared intently into her eyes for a split second before turning the keys in the ignition.

"Just for the record I'm not going to sit around doing nothing, waiting for this guy to make his move."

Arthur smiled at her mischievously. "I was hoping you would say that."

* * *

After several circles around her block, they finally arrived at her apartment. Ariadne stuck her keys in the door, but hesitated before opening it.

"Could you give me five minutes?" she asked.

Arthur flashed a dimpled grin at her, looking much too smug for her liking.

"I don't think even an hour would suffice."

Ariadne blushed. She tried not to think about the fact that Arthur had been watching her, and all of the things he could have possibly seen.

"Please?"

He nodded. "I'll just do a quick search around the perimeter."

She hurried inside, quickly kicking clutter under the couch and stacking scattered papers into a neat pile. She lived in organized chaos. Models and drawings littered her apartment in the most unusual of places. However, despite the disorganization she knew exactly where everything was placed.

She cleared a path to the bathroom, stopping to flush her face and neck with water. She stared at her reflection in the mirror as she tried to regulate her breathing. The water droplets dripped off her face slowly, like the tears she refused to let out.

A few minutes later a soft knock echoed throughout the apartment. She panicked for a minute until Arthur's reassuring voice followed. "Is it safe to come in now?" he asked, peeking his head in through the ajar door.

"Yes." she said as she padded her way to her living room.

He looked out of place standing amongst the mess and she waited for him to tease her about the state of the room. Instead he looked around silently, before gingerly placing the boxes of ridiculously expensive takeout on the coffee table. She had no appetite whatsoever, but Arthur would not take no for an answer. He sat down on her couch with a sigh.

"Come eat. You'll feel better afterwards."

"I doubt it." she said as she collapsed into the large wingback chair that she had spent many hours in reading over the past few months.

"Trust me, Juliette's cooking cures just about everything. It's to die for."

Arthur froze, realizing what the had just said and turned towards her to gauge her reaction. After a slight pause Ariadne began to laugh and Arthur chuckled lightly, the tension draining from both of them. His smile put her at ease, and made her realize how much she had missed his company and how good it was to have him back.

He handed her a box and fork, just as a shrill ring split the air. Arthur pulled out a cellphone and frowned when he glanced at the display screen.

"Excuse me" he muttered towards her before standing up and making his way into her kitchen.

"About time you called me back. What the hell is going on?" Arthur barked as Ariadne strained to hear what he said next.

"So he's still there? Are you sure?"

She debated entering the kitchen so she could hear better, perhaps even find out who was on the end of Arthur's anger.

"Yes, I'm doubting your abilities. I needed you to call me back hours ago... something happened."

The next few sentences were drowned out as Arthur paced across the tile floor.

"Yes. I'll call you back later and fill you in."

When Arthur didn't reenter the living room, she walked to the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe. He was hunched over the counter mumbling inaudibly into the phone. As if he could sense her presence he turned around, his brow furrowed.

Seconds later, he hung up the phone.

"I have to go take care of something for a bit, but I have a friend who'll keep an eye on the apartment from outside."

She wanted to argue that she didn't need a babysitter, but having someone watching for danger was a welcome reassurance. He made his way towards the door and she followed.

"Arthur please don't leave me in the dark. I need to know what's going on."

He paused and ran a hand over his perfectly slicked back hair, contemplating her request.

"We'll talk tomorrow." He looked extremely fatigued and despite the thin smile etched on his face, she knew that something was wrong. "Try to get some sleep Ariadne." And with that he was gone, sinking off into the darkness.

Hours later Ariadne lay in bed with every light turned on in her apartment. She could not shake the looming cloud of fear that hovered above her. Every sound made her jump and her heart rate accelerate. She fiddled nervously with the blankets and she found herself wishing Arthur hadn't left. Taking a deep breath she turned off her bedroom lights and buried herself underneath the covers. She hugged her knees to her chest and for the first time in a long time let the tears run freely.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you once again for the wonderful reviews, they truly make my day. I had jury duty this week and spent it outlining the next chapters and planning out just where I want this story to go. I hope you guys continue to enjoy where I am taking this story.**

Ariadne ran down the narrow corridor, her breathing accelerating with every step. A fork lay a few feet ahead, but she knew it did not matter if she turned left or right. They would find her no matter what path she took. Nonetheless she paused momentarily looking down both directions, before sprinting towards the left.

She heard footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder frantically, but could see nothing. As she spun back around she was greeted with a towering projection of a man brandishing a large black gun. His mouth turned into a lopsided grin.

"Quick give me a kiss." The projection quickly transformed into a malicious version of the point man. As he took a few steps forward, Ariadne dodged to his right, racing towards one of the doors that lined the walls. She flung open the door just as bullets ricocheted throughout the hallway.

With her heart pounding she locked the door and turned around to explore the room. She saw that it was a large open chamber with entrances to what appeared to be tunnels scattered every few feet. Ariadne cautiously made her way towards one of the tunnels, but was stopped in her tracks, by a daunting tone. "It's been too long love. Did you miss me? "

She turned towards the voice, watching as Eames appeared with a massive gun in his hand. Directly to her left, Yusuf emerged from the shadows yielding what appeared to be a syringe. Arthur and Cobb joined the group, surrounding her in all directions. All of their faces were twisted into menacing grins and their eyes were empty and dark. The last thing she remembered was hot white flashing pain, before everything disappeared.

Ariadne woke with a start, clenching the covers tightly in her sweaty palms. The darkness was suffocating and she fumbled for the light. Brightness flooded the room and she leaned back against the headboard, trying to regulate her breathing. She ran a hand through her sweat soaked hair. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Ariadne watched him drive up in his sleek silver sports car and the uneasiness that she had been feeling all morning dissipated. He was dressed sharply in a blue sweater over his typical white dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled halfway up. She watched as he made his way to her apartment, carrying a large briefcase.

"Well it looks like you've been busy." He stated, taking in the chaotic environment. Pans of cookies laid in rows on the counter and the sink was filled to the brim with bowls and spoons. Ariadne smiled sheepishly.

"Did you sleep at all?" he inquired, looking down at her with his brow furrowed.

"Did you?"

"Touche" he muttered, a small smile forming on his lips. How Arthur managed to look so put together with no sleep was beyond her. She bet he even looked good when he was sick, that is if he ever got sick.

"I may have gone a bit overboard on the baking." she admitted.

Arthur bit his lip, silently agreeing with her.

"What are you going to do with all of them?"

"Well I figured you could use to gain some weight."

Arthur looked at her jokingly appalled before sitting down at her kitchen table and opening his briefcase. "I would be a fool to waste your hard work. Bring me your best one."

"Double Chocolate, peanut butter, snicker doodle, or plain old chocolate chip?" she asked. Arthur didn't answer, engrossed by the papers inside the briefcase.

"What?" he finally replied.

"Never mind." she said as she sat a glass plate with a single chocolate chip cookie down in front of him.

His eyes light up slightly and he looked questioningly at her "Am I that predictable?"

She swirled the tea in her cup, watching it slosh up against the edges. "In some things yes. But, other times I feel like I barely know you at all."

Arthur locked eyes with her and studied her intensely. It was moments like this that made her remember the kiss and question what it had meant. She wondered what he thought of her, and if he ever viewed her as more than a professional colleague or lately as more than a damsel in distress.

The point man, lowered his eye contact and busied himself with pulling out a stack of manila envelopes. Each envelope was neatly marked and color coded. She smiled inwardly at Arthur's meticulous work. To some he may seem obsessive and too business oriented. However, she knew how important his work was. Doing his job as organized and as detailed as possible was often the difference between life and death. Still, she couldn't help but tease him for it.

"What would happen if I mixed up all of the papers in the envelopes?"

"You wouldn't." he said matter-of-factly.

"What if i did?" she provoked, trying to keep things light. Attempting to keep her mind off of what she knew lay inside the envelopes. Arthur looked at her her mischievously.

"Well then." he said warningly, his eyes narrowing. "I would have to do the hit mans job for him." he said with a blank serious expression before giving her a rare full blown smile.

Ariadne smiled back at him, but images of projection Arthur from her dream flashed through her head. She wondered if she would ever be able to escape the fear which consumed her.

Arthur did not seem to sense her inward dilemma. He returned to his pile of envelopes and opened one, pulling out a picture of a dark haired Russian man.

"This is Dimitri Volchow"

All of a sudden Ariadne found it hard to breathe. The man needed no explanation. He was was tall, around 6'2 and about 250 pounds of pure muscle. His eyes were dark black and Ariadne knew she was looking into the face of the man who was going to kill her.

"Is he here? In Paris?"

"No. A friend of mine is trailing him right now. As of an hour ago he was in Cote d'Ivoire, fulfilling another job assignment."

Ariadne let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding. She was safe...for now.

"Wait. Then who was following us yesterday?" she asked, begining to inwardly panic again.

"Another complication that is being dealt with." Arthur assured her.

"What do you mean?"

The point man twirled his pen in his fingers. "Most hit men like to work alone. But Dimitri apparently has someone do what he considers the boring work for him. Basically, he has his own point man, someone to research the target so he doesn't have to."

Ariadne's brain was spinning with all the information, but Arthur carried on nonetheless. He rifled through his briefcase and pulled out a thin envelope that contained several pictures taken at varying angels and distances.

"This is Clive Walker, the man who put the hit out on your head."

Ariadne studied the pictures carefully. The man was old with gray hair and spectacles that looked like they were from a different time. He had blue eyes that lacked warmth and a rigid posture.

"Who is he?"

"Figuratively he's a ghost. No matter how hard I look, I can't find any information about his life. The only information I've been able to gleam is that he's a retired doctor who lives a very quiet boring life. He has no ties to any corporations and no questionable activity whatsoever. I can't even find a birth certificate."

She flipped through the pictures looking at the man who wanted her captured and then killed. She wondered what she had done to deserve this. Arthur studied her carefully.

"Ariadne?" he asked gently.

She looked up from the pictures.

"I want us to preform extraction on Clive Walker."

* * *

Eames tapped the cigar on the side of the glass, letting the ashes fall into the dish. He exhaled deeply, the smoke seeping from his mouth as he reached for the beer on the bedside table. Despite the fact that the air conditioner was on, the room was still sweltering. The forger wiped beads of perspiration from his face, while grumbling incoherently. His eyes occasionally flickered to a lap top which was situated a few feet away on a table. The room was dark and quiet except for the flicker of the mute tv screen and the forger's occasional string of curses. His eyes strayed to the laptop in boredom, catching sight of a flashing icon.

Begrudgingly he rose and sat down in front of the computer, clicking on the icon. A video window popped up, showing a large hotel suite almost identical to his own. A large muscled man sat at the table, absorbed in his work. On the table lay a M24 sniper rifle, which the hit man was cleaning with loving precision. Eames grated his teeth together, before clicking to the audio icon and donning the headphones.

The call had been made 5 minutes earlier to the local airport. He listened as Dimitri's voice harshly belittled an airline assistant.

"I don't care if it's not procedure, I need to get on that flight." he shouted.

"I'm sorry sir, but that flight to Paris is full. There is a red eye leaving in four days that still has space. Would you like me to book you a seat?"

Eames felt sorry for the airline assistant as the hit man yelled expletives into the phone before harshly booking a seat on the red eye and then hanging up on the girl mid sentence.

Four days. Eames took a deep breath, inwardly praying to the gods that the point man's crazy plan could actually be pulled off. He reached for the phone. Arthur was going to want to know about this.

* * *

Please let me know what you think. : )


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